1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to containers for storing and transporting a stack of paper sheets to facilitate recycling the paper.
2. Description of the Related Art
For many years used newspapers and the like have been collected and recycled to conserve resources, and to reduce the amount of material incinerated or sent to landfills. However, large quantities of waste paper still are not recycled because the paper cannot be collected efficiently and economically. For example, various types of containers have been provided for the accumulation of industrial, commercial and residential waste paper. These containers either have opaque walls, which conceal the contents, or are so small that only small amounts of paper can be stored in them. In the first instance, some people who discard recyclable paper often mix non-paper contaminants, such as glass or plastic containers, waste food, metal cans, and other garbage, with the paper sheets. This is unacceptable to those in the business of recycling paper, and discourages collection of waste paper. In the second instance, only relatively small amounts of waste paper can be stored in the small containers. This makes pickup of the accumulated paper inordinately time-consuming and uneconomical.
Because of the above shortcomings, a large amount of available waste paper is never recovered for recycling.
This invention provides containers in which stacks of relatively large amounts of waste paper, such as newspaper, can be compactly stored, and easily inspected by a collector of the paper to ascertain that the stack is not contaminated with non-paper refuse. Moreover, the containers of this invention make it easy to move a collected stack of large amounts of recyclable paper to a convenient location for rapid and economical pickup by a recycler.
In brief, the preferred container of this invention is in the shape of an elongated upright box with a bottom slightly larger in size and shape than a typical newspaper folded in half. The container includes a front, which is substantially open, and a bottom, two sides and a back, which are substantially closed. A pair of rotatable wheels are mounted on the lower end of the container, which has a base adapted to rest on a substantially horizontal supporting surface, such as a floor. The open front of the container permits the easy stacking of horizontal sheets of paper to, any convenient height, say 3 to 7 feet, and also permits quick and easy inspection of the stack of paper sheets in the box to ascertain that the stack is not contaminated with non-paper material. Thus, a stack of uncontaminated recyclable paper weighing 200 or more pounds can be stored, even by the typical residential dweller. Once the container is substantially full, it can easily be tilted to be supported only by the wheels, and thereafter rolled to an appropriate location, say curbside, for pickup by a recycler. Preferably, the containers of this invention include lifting means which make it possible for either a fully automatic or semi-automatic recycle truck to lift and invert the container to dump the stack of paper into the collection truck. The container is then returned to the curbside position for reuse.
In one form of the invention, the open front of the container includes inwardly extending lips which are perpendicular to the sidewalls to confine the stack of papers in the container as it is tilted or otherwise moved. Preferably, the horizontal distance between the inner edges of the lips is slightly less than the width of the stack within the container. This facilitates stacking sheets of paper in a horizontal orientation and complete inspection of the stack for unacceptable contaminants. It also promotes easy dumping of the stack when the container is inverted.
In another form of the invention, the container bottom slopes downwardly and away from the open front of the container when the container base rests on a horizontal surface. This promotes formation of a stable stack which rests securely against the back of the container. In the preferred form, the bottom of the container is at an angle between about 2xc2x0 and about 12xc2x0 from horizontal when the container base rests on a horizontal support.
In another form of the invention, the back wall of the container slopes upwardly and away from the open face of the container at an angle between about 2xc2x0 and about 12xc2x0 from vertical when the container base rests on a substantially horizontal support. This also promotes formation of a stable stack which rests firmly against the back of the container.
To facilitate tilting the container to rest only on the wheels, a step plate is mounted on the bottom of the container front to extend away from the container in a direction transverse to the axis of the rotation of the wheels, which can be mounted either at the front or the back of the container.